Calcutta/Mumbai: All speculations are over. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly will not be a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) IV, starting on April 8.

The IPL governing council stalled what could have been a back-door entry for Sourav after he was left unsold at a base price of $400,000, at the players auction, in Bangalore.

Based on the views from franchisees, the IPL governing council decided not to make available the unsold Indian players from the auction, said a release from BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan, who is also a member of the governing council.

That effectively dashed the hopes of not only Sourav, who went unsold at the two-day auction on January 8 and 9, but also those of two other capped players Ś Wasim Jaffer and V.R.V Singh Ś who will not feature in the April 8-May 28 tournament.

Speaking to reporters after a marathon meeting of the governing council, chairman Chirayu Amin said that Sourav would not be a part of IPL IV following the objection raised by a few franchises.

We had received a request from a franchise that Sourav should be allowed to be purchased outside the auction and rejected it after objections were raised by some other franchises, Amin said.

Though Kochi had issued a denial and Sourav said he wasnt approached, there was certainly some behind the scenes activity.

IPL rules state that no capped player can be bought outside the players auction after he has been part of the process.

In another development, the IPL governing council has slapped a four-match ban on Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey for breaching player guidelines.

Srinivasan stated that based on the complaints from franchisees and after meeting with Pandey, who has signed for the Sahara Pune Warriors, the governing council had imposed a four-match ban on the player.

He cannot play the first four matches of IPL IV. As desired by him, he is permitted to play for the Pune Franchise, Srinivasan said.

Amin told reporters that Pandey, through his agent, had haggled with several franchises.

Pandeys agent was negotiating with a number of franchises, was how Amin put it.

Pandey played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first three seasons of the IPL.

The IPL also saw no merit in the letter from the Mumbai Indians franchise alleging complaints of irregularities in the conduct of January 8-9 players auction and declared that the auction was held in a fair and transparent manner.

As regards the letter from M/s. India Win Sports Private Limited (Mumbai Indians) regarding the recent IPL auction, the governing council was briefed by the operational team including IMG on all aspects of the letter. The procedure followed in this years auction is exactly the same as was done in all the previous IPL auctions, Srinivasan said.

Representatives of all Franchisees had read the auction briefing note prepared by the IMG which included the changes referred to and signed the same in acceptance before the auction including the India Win Sports Private Limited (Mumbai Indians). The Governing Council reiterates that the auction was transparent and fair, he added.